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Apple Planning USB-C iMac and Faster Notebooks in 2017, Mac Pro and Touch Bar Magic Keyboard in Question

TurboPGT! said:
Ok so this is your response, instead offering interesting counterpoints to the arguments.

You're just like every member here. "I Want This!" and you offer no professional OR amateur insight into how its possible. You just "gimme" and you don't care whats doable/practical/desirable and whats not.
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Or not.
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You're just a bundle of fun aren't you!!!

I have actually posted in previous threads about the challenge of incorporating a TouchID sensor into a keyboard, and my thoughts on a screen based trackpad interface. That said, the main part of my original comment was simply that a TouchBar enabled external keyboard would probably be more popular than the TouchBar on the new laptops. I used the word "irony" because the original article stated that Apple would decided on whether to move forward with a TouchBar enabled external keyboard, based on the feedback and user experience with the new MBPs.

As for amateur insight as to how a context aware trackpad with a high resolution screen might work, imagine if you can, a device that's not too thick, that has a high resolution display, and advanced highly sensitive touch input capabilities. The device would require a built in power source and wireless capabilities, probably Bluetooth, to communicate with a computer. The computer's operating system would communicate with this hypothetical device and be able to tell it what images to display on its screen and would receive input commands that it could interpret based on the application in use at the time.

Now if Apple could only come up with a thin, rechargeable, touch enabled device with a high resolution screen, they might be able to knock up a prototype of this. It would be really cool if they could include some kind of haptic feedback and maybe even let you use a sort of stylus with it so that it could serve in the place a Wacom pen tablet too.
 
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Honestly I don't get people. Apple basically perfected the Mac Mini's industrial design in 2010. Since then they've added Thunderbolt, SSD and better processors. Mac Mini is fine. It just needs updated to USB-C.
 
Chicane-UK said:
I know a lot of folks on here have been saying the same, but it's hard to look at it any other way. It just seems they're being purely business focussed - the iPhone / iPad has better margins and ships in higher volumes, so why waste time on the Mac? It sucks for those who have invested into the Mac desktop ecosystem and are now being left hanging :(

Really hope they release some killer new desktops in 2017.
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This is so bizarre because they make so much money they can literally do EVERYTHING involving tech and not have an issue with them "lacking focus" on one area or the next. It's almost hilarious.
 
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I don't know what you think about Tim's announcements.... I keep on waiting on the best pipeline ever and other fantastic updates and products that have not materialized so far (except AW2)...

I quit believing in what he says... and I'd rather have less announcements and more deliverables...
 
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smoledman said:
Honestly I don't get people. Apple basically perfected the Mac Mini's industrial design in 2010. Since then they've added Thunderbolt, SSD and better processors. Mac Mini is fine. It just needs updated to USB-C.
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All of their products are "useable and just fine". People don't want to pay FULL PRICE for outdated tech. What is it you do not understand? This involves the processor and graphics, as well as newer SSD's and such.
 
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melendezest said:
Damn it, Apple.

The Touch Bar was a waste of time, but now you'll keep going that route because you're stupid and (the most) stubborn (of ALL).

YOU ALREADY HAVE A VIABLE TOUCH-BASED OS. No need for BS half-measures like this. Just give iOS more power-user features (filesystem, mouse support, etc.) and throw it onto consumer laptops, iPads, 2-in-ones, and the iMac.

Leave OS X alone and build a proper Mac Pro and MBPs and put it there. Boom. Done. Loyal fans 'till death.

Microsoft has successfully integrated touch and mouse. Underestimate them at your 1984 peril.
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Yeah and the downside is Windows 10 which entirely destroys the whole package!
 
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MacRumors said:



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Apple is preparing modest updates to its Mac lineup for next year, including new iMac models with USB-C ports and new AMD graphics chips, and "minor bumps" in processing power for 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro models, according to Bloomberg.KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo likewise said new iMacs will launch in the first half of 2017 in a research note shared earlier this year, while current iMac models have not been updated in 434 days per our Mac Buyer's Guide, so updates to Apple's consumer desktop lineup would be unsurprising. USB-C ports on new iMacs would likely double as Thunderbolt 3 ports akin to the new MacBook Pro.

Apple designers are also said to be exploring standalone keyboards with a Touch Bar and Touch ID for desktop computers. The report claims Apple will decide whether to release the keyboards depending upon how well the touchscreen strip and fingerprint scanner are received on new MacBook Pro models released a few months ago. Apple's current Magic Keyboard was released in October 2015.

Meanwhile, some Apple engineers have reportedly raised the possibility of moving Mac Pro production back to Asia, as these people believe the supply chain workers have the "required skills" for "ambitious" products. Apple currently assembles the Mac Pro in Texas as its only "Made in USA" computer, but the professional-oriented desktop machine has not been updated in three years.President-elect Donald Trump recently said he will offer Apple incentives to bring manufacturing back to the United States, including a "very large tax cut" and reduced regulations. Apple CEO Tim Cook himself has said the majority of its products are made in China because the U.S. workforce has a smaller number of individuals with the "vocational kind of skills" needed.

Overall, the article suggests the Mac is "getting far less attention than it once did," partly due to "a lack of clear direction from senior management, departures of key people working on Mac hardware, and technical challenges."

Apple, for its part, told employees it has "great desktops" in its roadmap. Cook said the desktop is "very strategic" to Apple because the performance desktops can provide is "really important" to a lot of people and "critical" for others. He says the current iMac is the best desktop Apple's ever made and its 5K display is the best desktop display in the world. The fate of the Mac Pro and Mac mini is less clear.

Article Link: Apple Planning USB-C iMac and Faster Notebooks in 2017, Mac Pro and Touch Bar Magic Keyboard in Question
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My suggestions for the Mac Pro: ditch the trash can form factor and revert to the YUGE older Mac Pro design: easy to upgrade, fix, lots of room for ports, internal drives, and more. Maybe they could make it smaller since Tech designs have moved on, but a desk side design works best, in my view. The the MacPro is horribly overpriced for something with essentially zero upgradeability inside the box.
 
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If Mac were 'failing' it wouldn't have sold 18.5 million units the last 4 quarters. It's doing GREAT.

Tim Cook is going to Make Macs Great Again.
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Guy Clark said:
Then you are more than welcome to use it. Windows 10 is no more than buggy spyware.
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No fair! You can still use Paint and play Solitaire.
 
MistrSynistr said:
This is so bizarre because they make so much money they can literally do EVERYTHING involving tech and not have an issue with them "lacking focus" on one area or the next. It's almost hilarious.
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Ya know what I feel when I see these lackluster updates? Confused. Because when you see the amount of people apple employs and their gigantic facilities, it's mind boggling we don't get better updates. Like...thousands of super intelligent people working together to solve problems. How does that not result in something amazing? What are they all doing all day?
 
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Appleaker said:
They've been testing a new Mac Pro for a while but I doubt production is the sole reason for a delayed release. In their mind there was no rush, and similarly the Mac mini is bringing in money as it is.
As for the keyboard, I hope it is released. Battery life could be fixed as there is much more room for battery but it wouldn't be as good which might be a worry.
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"They've been testing a new Mac Pro for a while"

Based on what?
 
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I must admit, I really like the MacBook. I got one for cheap used and my wife decided she wanted it instead of her old Air after playing with it. The size is perfect for what I like. I would seriously consider one if the single USB-C port because a single Thunderbolt 3 port, which should happen if Kaby Lake powers the next gen. (Also, it'd be nice if the keyboard was like the new Pros, the slight change in travel is a big deal.)

I don't care about a huge change to iMacs, but I want to have my grandfather get a Mac early this year and... well... I don't want him to get some year+ old machine. (And I wish Apple would just make a decision about the Pros. Seriously guys. If you want out of that market, get out and move on. If you want to stay in, please take it seriously.)
 
ThisBougieLife said:
Is that true? I didn't know that, but that honestly would explain a lot. It's no secret that macOS is on the back burner and iOS is the "future". But I didn't know they actually don't have a specific separate team working on it.
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If macOS is on the back burner and iOS is the "future", why would Apple have a separate macOS team? makes sense they have one unified, like how MS has one unified Windows 10 team
 
Sadly, the Surface Pro should have been Apple's invention. We've had some of the previous generations of this machine, but they have been plagued with persistent problems. The Surface Pro looks like they may have overcome a lot of these problems. Apple should have had an iMac with similar capabilities years ago... and I think if Jobs were around today he could have executed it better than Microsoft.
[doublepost=1482277517][/doublepost]Also... I would love to see a full MacOS tablet. Something like the iPad Pro where I can run the full desktop versions of Photoshop and Painter.
 
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ArcaneDevice said:
And that would solve the Mac problem how exactly?

You are exactly the point I am making. You can either keep clinging to blue-collar trades like HVAC repair or start training for high-tech manufacturing and engineering design for consumer electronics. Don't blame the "graduates" for looking down on trade schools when those trade school graduates spend a lot of time looking down on the science and tech community. You need those graduates to come up with the designs for those trade school graduates to be able to manufacture.

The Asia/Pacific region made their choice decades ago and America didn't want to be part of that world. They would rather stick with what they know even it if it becomes obsolete. So what do you want to be? A country of HVAC repair techs or a country of IC assemblers? Only one of those is going to make Apple products in the country. What are you going to tell your kids to do?
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"A country of HVAC repair techs or a country of IC assemblers?"

Neither. I rather have a country of engineers, scientists, and artists
 
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QCassidy352 said:
And the MacBook Air won't be around for long. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac as the only macs within the next 12 months.
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Then Apple will be seeing a long line at the exits.
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zorinlynx said:
Considering you must use a Mac to do iOS development, you would think Apple would consider the Mac an important product line since its developers use it to build the apps that make the iPhone what it is.

Without developers, iOS is nothing. Apple should have every reason to keep developers happy with cool hardware. Developers are almost universally geeks, and geeks like high end, capable hardware.
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Androids market share gets bigger and bigger, every quarter. The point of no return is approaching.

Tim is playing the fiddle, while the future of Apple burns.
 
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pat500000 said:
I hear you what you're saying, but benefitting the investor is one thing, but making moves to discourage Mac users shouldn't be taken lightly..,,especially those people who use macs like Mac Pro needing appropriate upgrades for work and etc. soldering macs and promoting behavior as "anti-consumerism" shouldn't be tolerated. I'm against anti-consumerism and this isn't aimed at only Apple but other companies like Microsoft.
When Tim told his employees about Macs in the future, I hope to see more than just mbp and iMacs.

By the way, what gives you the impression that he's leaving?
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Faith in a Higher Power. :apple:
 
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